1. Read the following paragraph and comment
Over time, people preferred scarce and attractive metals as medium of exchange. Copper,
Bronze, Silver and Gold are durable and can be divided into parts and can be carried around
Since they were scarce, they became acceptable by all People could buy and sell with the
assurance that the money they had in hand would be valuable and sought by others. They did not
have to worry that their money might lose value as it could happen with grains or cattle.
However, some problems remained and new problems came up. For every exchange, the metal
had to be weighed and later on traders were not sure about the quality of the metal What one
might get in exchange may not be pure gold or silver. After some time, there was a serious
problem of trust in the quality of metal that was used as money for exchange.
Answers
Answer:
How do you justify the view that the level of excellence of the Gupta numismatic art is not at all noticeable in later times?
Ans:Gupta's numismatics is not just a medium of exchange but also gives an historical account The Gupta monarchs were famous for their gold coins. They also issued silver coins. However, coins made of copper, bronze or any other alloy metals are scarce. The abundance of gold coins from the Gupta era has led some scholars to regard this phenomenon as the ‘rain of gold’.
The Gupta gold coin is known as dinaras. The gold coins of the Gupta rulers are the extraordinary examples of artistic excellence. The coins depicted the ruling monarch on the obverse and carried legends with the figure of a goddess on the reverse.
The artists depicted the ruler in various poses. The study of these imageries is very interesting. Mainly the images celebrated the martial qualities and the valor of the ruler. In many coins of Samudragupta, he is depicted as carrying an axe. In others, he is carrying a bow in his left hand and an arrow in his right hand. The coins of Kumaragupta I depicted him riding an elephant and killing a lion. Another very interesting image of Samudragupta depicted him as playing a ‘veena’, a stringed musical instrument. There are also some instances of Gupta coins which were jointly issued by the king and the queen. The ‘king-queen’ types of coins were issued by Chandragupta I, Kumaragupta I, and Skandagupta. These coins depicted both the figures of the king and queen in a standing pose. Kumaradevi, the name of the queen of Chandragupta I is known from these coins. But the other two kings did not mention the name of their queens in their joint issues.
The ‘Asvamedha’ or horse-sacrifice coins were issued by both Samudragupta and Kumaragupta I. Horse sacrifice is an ancient Hindu ritual in which a very powerful monarch sacrificed a horse after some elaborate rituals to demonstrate his political power. A very few among the ancient kings of India had performed this sacrifice as it was allowed for only those with enormous power and wealth. The fact that two of the Gupta monarchs performed it is evident from their coins. It also showed their immense power and wealth. Almost every Gupta coin carried the figure of a goddess and an inscription in the reverse. Sanskrit was the language of the inscription. The goddess posed in either sitting or a standing position. There were many goddess depicted in these coins. The most common was the image of Laxmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth. Other goddesses who featured in the Gupta coins included Durga, the Hindu goddess of valor; Ganga, the goddess of the river Ganges; etc. Some of the Gupta coins, mainly the silver ones, carried the images of Garuda, a mythical bird of Hindu tradition. These coins are found in large numbers in western India. In some cases, the Garuda is replaced by a peacock. This variety of coins is extremely rare. And thus, carry a great value for the numismatists.
Clarify how mid-eighteenth century India was beset with the spectre of a fragmented polity.
Ans:With the death of Aurangzeb in 1707 Mughal empire started declined and disintegrated in next fifty years. The rulers ruled during this period are Bahadur shah -I, Jahandar shah , Faruk siyar , Mohammad shah, here Mohammad shah completely neglected the kingdom, two of his ministers established Avadh and Hyderabad , Bengal states. During this time nadir shah invaded , he destroyed the then mughal wealth and military power , with this entire kingdom get weakened further.Marathas at that time were ferocious warriors but with the attack of ahmad sha abdali (independent ruler of Afghanistan, attacked India in retaliation to Maratha kings attack on afghan governor) ruined the glory of Marathas, this also weakened Maratha king dom. During that time Mughal ruler was shah alam, by this time alam territory confined to only Palam (present Delhi). During the time literally prime ministers ruled the kingdom , kings were became puppets in the hands of prime ministers.
War of succession among rulers also led to fragmentation of territory. In the south Carnatic wars also disturbed the kingdoms, battle plasy, buxar finally Shah alam granted diwani rights of Bengal, Bihar, Odisha states to British East India company, with this entire mughal empire confined to only red fort area of Delhi. Britishers started establishing their influence.
Why did the ‘Moderates’ failed to carry conviction with the nation about their proclaimed ideology and political goals by the end of the nineteenth century?
Ans:Moderates started their protest against Britishers with the launch of Indian national congress. Their main path is petitions, prayers, protests. Their goal in not sampoorna swaraj but a dominion status. In their struggle they had a lot of confidence on British administration; they never estimated the tactics, mind set